Many individuals and companies operate e-commerce World Wide Web (“Web”) sites. Customers and potential customers of such Web sites can browse and search for products, purchase products, read and leave reviews for products, and perform other functions. E-commerce Web sites have become one of the primary ways that consumers purchase products today.
Although many individuals and companies operate e-commerce Web sites, there are still many other individuals and companies that would like to operate an e-commerce Web site but that do not. In many cases, this is due to the technical and economic challenges associated with operating an e-commerce Web site. For instance, it may be prohibitively time consuming, technically difficult, and/or expensive for an individual or a small company to create and operate an e-commerce Web site that includes electronic shopping cart functionality, payment processing, and other functions that are required to be competitive with other e-commerce Web sites.
It might also be cost prohibitive for individuals and small companies to offer large numbers of items for sale on their e-commerce Web sites. For example, it might be logistically difficult and/or cost prohibitive for a small company that sells digital music players to also stock and sell all of the various cases, chargers, adapters, and other common accessories for each digital music player the company sells. As a result, the company might operate an e-commerce Web site that offers a relatively small selection of products, or might not operate an e-commerce Web site altogether.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that the disclosure made herein is presented.